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A Vision to Serve the Global Church with Renewed Imagination for the Sake of Christ and His Global Church, Westminster Will Pursue Our Most Ambitious

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A Vision to Serve the Global Church with Renewed Imagination for the Sake of Christ and His Global Church, Westminster Will Pursue Our Most Ambitious A Vision to Serve the Global Church with Renewed Imagination For the sake of Christ and his global church, Westminster will pursue our most ambitious EST. 1929 undertaking in 90 years. 2 3 Most big stories start small. And so it was with Westminster. Just a month before the Great Crash of 1929, Westminster Theological Seminary held its first class on the first floor of someone’s home in Philadelphia. The school had few resources, no land, and no name recognition. It had every worldly reason to fail. 4 5 The vision began with an act of obedience. he founding of Westminster began when J. Gresham Machen—who had spent 23 years as an esteemed scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary—resigned from his Princeton post. Princeton was the Tpreeminent Reformed seminary of the day, but liberalism had been gaining a foothold there. Machen—and others who soon joined him—felt convicted to oppose theological compromise. Instead, these men chose obedience to the truth of the Bible and centrality of Christ. This came with a cost. Together they sacrificed jobs, status, legacy, and financial security. Machen was even stripped of ministry credentials by his church. 6 7 Westminster Theological Seminary, which opens its doors today… can offer for the present no magnificent buildings, no long- established standing in the ecclesiastical “But to Christ, or academic world. Why, then, does it open its doors? The answer is plain. Our despite all, we hold.” new institution is devoted to an unpopular Amidst the upheaval of change and uncertainty of the future, cause; it is devoted to the service of One these men persevered in faith. And less than six months later, who is despised and rejected by the world Machen gave an address to the newly formed Westminster student body. He extolled the glories of Christ and the truth of and increasingly belittled by the visible Scripture as the cause of their new school. He reminded them church, the majestic Lord and Savior who that their pursuit meant going against growing trends in culture and even in seminary education. is presented to us in the Word of God. Machen’s words are reflective of what has remained true of But to Christ, despite all, we hold.” Westminster—and the context of our ministry—ever since. Rev. Dr. J. Gresham Machen (pictured) Delivered September 25, 1929 at Westminster's first convocation 8 9 The legacy of faithfulness of the founding faculty continues to embolden us. Members of the original faculty, photographed in 1931. Front row, L-R: Ned Stonehouse, New Testament; Oswald T. Allis, Old Testament; J. Gresham Machen, New Testament; Paul Woolley, Church History; Cornelius Van Til, Apologetics Standing L-R: John Murray, Systematic Theology; Allan MacRae, Old Testament Not Pictured: Robert Dick Wilson 10 11 It is a vision that remains ever true. From Westminster's first days to our current days, we have been marked by consistent convictions. Teaching the whole counsel of God Preaching Christ in all of Scripture Providing robust theological education to train specialists in the Bible Teaching presuppositional apologetics Empowering students with exegetically grounded systematic theology Being a consistent stronghold for Reformed theology and scholarship 12 13 By God’s grace, our small beginnings have resulted in great impact. Westminster’s size and stature have remained small. Nearly every visitor to our campus in Glenside, Pennsylvania still comments on our modest appearance and inauspicious footprint. It is less than what people expect for a school that has produced such a depth of scholarship and breadth of global reach. 1955 1978 1980s L'Abri Fellowship Cornelius Van Harvie Conn preaching at SaRang Til (founding Community Church (founded by 2005 founded by Francis 1966 faculty) with Dr. Han-Heum Oak, DMin '96) in Schaeffer (student The Gospel Coalition Reformed Jack Miller South Korea, one of the largest from '34–'35) cofounded by D.A. Carson Theological (MDiv '65) Reformed Presbyterian churches in & Tim Keller (DMin '81) 1929 1958 Seminary preaching on the world Westminster alumnus Chul Westminster Theological founded in 1966. Wall Street Ha Han (ThM '58) will Seminary is founded Richard Bodey go on to be president of (ThM '72) and Asia United Theological James De Young University in Korea, further (MDiv '56) served strengthening Westminster's on the first faculty Korean partnership William Edgar (MDiv '69), 1930s Tim Keller (DMin '81), and The early Scott Oliphint (MAR '83) Westminster discussing apologetics faculty 1968 1979 Christian Counseling & Westminster Seminary Education Foundation California 1936 1940s founded by Jay Adams founded by Robert den 1990s 1995 The graduation of Yune Sun Park New Westminster (joined faculty in '67) and Dulk (MDiv '64), Robert Sinclair Ferguson Puritan Theological Seminary (MDiv '36) begins Westminster's campus established John Bettler (MDiv '67) Strimple (MDiv '59), teaching systematic founded by Joel Beeke (PhD '88) relationship with the Korean Church, and Edmund Clowney theology as he goes on to be president of (MDiv '40) three Korean seminaries 14 15 God has seen fit to form untold 4,000+ 300+ thousands of hearts, minds, and souls alumni serving in churches alumni currently teaching as through this institution. in over 50 countries professors around the world This is not to our fame but to the glory of Christ Jesus. 500+ 60+ books published by alumni have founded and led schools Westminster faculty and seminaries across the globe 16 17 As we look to our 100th anniversary, we are ready to extend ourselves in Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all greater ways. we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work The mindset of Westminster has never been to settle for comfort or within us, to him be glory in the status quo. In 2029 we will celebrate our 100th anniversary as a seminary—and we believe we can mark that with a far greater campus, the church and in Christ Jesus training, and online learning platform in place than ever before. throughout all generations, for Our confidence to dream big is not rooted in ourselves. In Ephesians 3:20, we are promised that God’s power surpasses not only our prayers ever and ever! Amen. but our imagination. This truth propels us to bold action, knowing we EPHESIANS 3:20–21 aren’t limited by our efforts or ideas. This truth also compels us to deep humility, recognizing our place is small before God. But by his power, for the sake of his glory, we press forward with renewed imagination for the future of how this seminary can serve Christ and his church. 18 19 Through foundational scholarships and faculty The opportunity at hand is endowments, plus a greater concentration on training pastors in preaching and counseling, we can fortify our education and formation experience for the long-term good of more people, in more places, those leading local churches around the world. Through vital campus improvements, we can create knowing Christ. opportunities for greater community, worship, and a true sense of home for the students God brings to us, while also positioning The opportunity we can choose to pursue is not really about us. It is not ourselves for a future as a global-serving campus. merely a "better Westminster" that we seek. Our opportunity is a more Through expanded online offerings and access, we can robustly reached and trained global church so that Christ is made known vastly broaden the funnel of our teaching and the nature of to more people in more places—for generations to come. training we offer to global ministry practitioners. Collectively these initiatives represent our most ambitious undertaking since Westminster began. 20 21 Our dream is to better equip the future leaders of Christ’s church for generations to come. To this end, we are prioritizing three key initiatives. Imagine a Pastorate We seek to better train the next generation of pastors. Imagine a Campus We seek to create a more welcoming, globally connected campus home to our students. Imagine a Global Network We seek to expand our online course offerings to serve even more Christian leaders worldwide. A Vision to Serve the Global Church with Total: $49.9 million Renewed Imagination 22 23 We will amplify our training of the next generation of pastors so that these leaders are both deeply trained to teach the Word of God and shepherd the people of God. 1 We’ll do this by: Imagine a Pastorate Fortifying our Pastoral Theology department Creating new endowed scholarships Endowing a new Chair of Pastoral Theology Strengthening our Doctor of Ministry program EST. 1929 Creating a pastoral residency program Total Cost: $5 million 24 25 Fortify our Pastoral Theology Department Westminster has long focused on training Bible specialists; our future will focus on pairing this with deeper training in pastoral care and practical ministry as well. Within the Master of Divinity (MDiv) program, Imagine a Pastorate we will double the number of classes on preaching and leadership. We will also retool The Pastoral Theology department's newly revised the program to make biblical counseling and Statement of Vision guides programmatic changes: evangelism required parts of the curriculum for every student trained at Westminster. We are committed to being a collaborative faculty team that models and mentors young pastors toward Christ-like character. The newly fashioned The Pastoral Theology department Pastoral Theology department will model this both inside and outside the classroom for the sake of equipping a rising generation of pastors to preach boldly and pastor holistically. aims to support the mission of Westminster by equipping the next generation of pastors and leaders The new practical ministry training curriculum will: with the character, convictions, and competencies to be Christ-centered, Double the Preaching Preserve the WTS-CCEF Legacy Spirit-filled, mission-driven heralds The pastoral theology curriculum will double within the Master of Divinity the number of opportunities for MDiv pastoral Biblical counseling will become a more and stewards of God’s Word.
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